Day 8: Bring Fresh Flowers or a Plant into the Kitchen

Day 8: Wednesday, October 9Assignment: Bring fresh flowers or a plant into the kitchen

I'm sure you're knackered after yesterday's assignment so today is meant as a fully restorative exercise. This one shouldn't set you back too much. Talk about bang for your buck, the beauty of Day 8 is how easy it is, and what an enormous difference it makes.

Today's Assignment (estimated time: 30 minutes)

1. Bring something living into your kitchen. This means, get a plant, or a vase and a bouquet of flowers. Wait, there's a catch: this assignment comes with a commitment. If you have a plant, can you commit to keeping it alive? If you have flowers, can you commit to buying a bouquet each week? I spend about $5/week on flowers at my corner deli or the farmers' market. Even the most modest bunch of carnations in a little jar creates a sense of bounty and well-being in the room. Here's a true story: When I first moved to New York I had very little money, but I purposely kept an envelope with $12 in it each month. The least expensive flowers I could buy at a Manhattan deli were $3/bunch and so every Friday after work I would pick up a bunch on my way home: one blossom in a shot glass on the top of the toilet tank, and the rest in the kitchen.

If you have light in your kitchen, you might even be able to grow some herbs. Some plants, like the Oxalis pictured above, can deal with low light. Feel the transformation that happens when you bring in something fresh. The sheer act of having to tend the plant or change the flowers will be a gentle reminder to tend to you kitchen in other ways.

2. Make a beauty shot of your living, breathing, beautifying element with one gorgeous photo on your social media accounts and tag your work with #kitchncure. Do a side-by-side before/after if you want. But remember, today is supposed to be easy, so don't overextend yourself fussing with photo apps!

The Kitchn Cure Liveblogs

Follow the progress of The Kitchn Cure in real live kitchens in our liveblogs: